The Heart Grows Fonder
by Keie31
Summary: BA deal with things after Brother's Keeper. Can they find a way to each other or will it drive them farther apart? BA keep the faith BA's Some course language
1. Chapter 1

-1Alex drove along quietly stealing glances at the large man who had sat in the passenger seat for the last 6 years. He had not spoken since they left the ME's office and that scared the hell out of her. She had gotten used to his mumbling, rambling, ranting and raving….she had gotten used to his voice. It had grown to be a source of comfort for her. The fact that he had gotten quieter and more withdrawn in the last few months worried her more then she dared to think about.

She wasn't quite sure how they had gotten to this point. She was quite sure when they had crossed the line of partners and colleagues to whatever it was that they had become. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when her feelings had changed but she did know when she had recognized it….it was that damn stupid letter. The one thing she would regret her whole life was writing that letter.

When she saw the look on his face, when she knew that he would know that she had betrayed him it had cut here deeper then anything else ever had.

She had prepared herself for the rage, for the anger, for the hurt feelings, she had even prepared herself for him telling her that he couldn't trust her enough to continue their partnership. What she had prepared herself for was his forgiveness. She knew Bobby well enough to know that his greatest weapon was his words. When he had forgiven her without so much as a 'how could you?', she felt her heart shift. It was small, almost imperceptible but she had felt it. She knew now that was the day that the 6'4, 250 pound man with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue that sat beside her had stolen her heart.

She had managed to keep her feelings in check though until the day he had let those elevator doors close on her.

She had been so pissed off! She couldn't believe he was shutting her out like that. She had thought they had gotten to the point where they could be honest with each other, and he gone and done that to her.

What hurt the most was that he been so good to her after the Jo Gage incident and he wouldn't let her reciprocate.

She knew he was in pain and he was refusing to let anyone help him. After he had taken a few days off and came back to work she could tell he was keeping her at arms length. So when they had spoken in the bar and he had asked her if they were okay and she told him that she hoped they were, she believed that maybe that would shift things back into place.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be like putting a band aid on a wound that needed stitches.

The funny thing is that her anger had disappeared almost immediately and she was left feeling even more hurt then she had been before. She had hidden it better yet it still hurt the fact that he would not open up to her.

She understood that it was his way of trying to protect her. It was his instinct, of course. He had grown up trying to protect everyone around him from the truth about his family.

She had tried to help by taking the lead in some of there cases because she knew his head wasn't in the game. However that just seemed to antagonize him more.

When they had come upon his brother Mike last week she had been thoroughly shocked. She knew her instinctual reaction had not helped matters at all. It had been clear that he was embarrassed being off guard like that. She wondered if most of life he had been dealing with being caught off guard? That would explain his personality much better. He had to be quicker and smarter to deal with a situation then many others did.

He wouldn't tell her what he and his brother had talked about when he had returned coatless to the car and she hadn't pushed because she felt if and when he was ready to talk to her he would.

After what had happened not more then an hour ago, Bobby having to identify whether or not the body in the ME's office was his brother, Alex felt the only option left was to push him. She had seen in that office just how close he was to a break down She couldn't even imagine if the roles had been reversed and it had been her identifying one of her brother's or sister's bodies. She only knew that Bobby was well past the breaking point and if he didn't deal with his emotions and let them out soon…well, she was terrified of what the outcome might just be.

She had to choke back tears and will herself not to go wrap her arms around him back there. It had broke her heart to the pain etched across his face.

She couldn't keep denying what her was feeling. What it had been feeling for quite awhile. She had chose to ignore her feelings rather then dwell on something she couldn't have. She realized that she was at the breaking point as well. When she looked at him, he wasn't just 'Bobby' anymore. He wasn't just the guy that she worked with, the guy who could think rings around anybody in the room, the guy who taught her something new all the time.

She had noticed him noticing her for years, yet he would always draw back just as quickly. He took great pains not to touch her in any meaningful way. That had sent his signal across clearly. The two of them as more then partners was not an option.

At first she had agreed. They seemed to have an unspoken line in the sand that neither was willing or wanted to cross. That wasn't to say she hadn't always known he was attractive. She actually always found it humorous the way he could charm women into revealing things or just plain making fools of themselves over him. Women were drawn to him. They seemed to sense the little boy lost inside the big man. She saw the man that still had a little boy inside, she thought with a smile.

He shifted again and she could see in her peripheral vision he was staring at her. Alex could feel her pulse start to race. She would never understand exactly how he managed to have that effect on her. After a few moments she finally turned to look at him. She saw him grow uncomfortable and turn back towards the window again.

This was her opening. If she didn't take it now neither of them ever would, she thought. They absolutely could not go on like this anymore. Hell, they couldn't work together like this anymore! Things were falling apart faster and faster and a stop had to be put to it one way or another.

Alex wondered what her mother would think. How would she feel about Alex seemingly putting everything on the line for this man? Her mother had always taught her to be a strong self sufficient woman. Yet here she was at the mercy of this man that sat beside her. Her head told her she would be fine know matter what the outcome. Her heart said something very different.

She had to do this though! After 6 years she could finally admit to herself that she loved the man sitting quietly beside her. Now if she could just convince Bobby of that.


	2. Chapter 2

-1It was too much. It was just all too much.

Bobby wished for probably the millionth time of his life that he could just shut down his brain and stop thinking all together. If he could just shut down for awhile then maybe the blinding pain behind his eyes would go away.

He had been dealing with shit like this since he was seven and for the first time in his life it was just all too much. Maybe he was getting to old for all of it, he thought to himself.

Nothing could ever just be easy. Nothing could ever just happen to him like it happened to everyone else. Most people had a nice normal idea of where there lives would go. Grow up, fall in love, get married have kids a decent job, nice normal things that seemed to allude him. He used to watch those sappy movies they showed on TV and wonder why it couldn't happen to him like that. What the hell was wrong with him?

He couldn't even remember a time when there was normal in his life. There had always been confusion and turmoil. That was probably the main reason he had turned to books.

Books were solid. Books never changed. If you found confusion in one it could always be cleared up in another. You could escape inside books. Instead of being the child of a derelict father and a schizophrenic mother you could be a pirate on a far away island, or a cowboy on a ranch somewhere far away or his favorite a detective just like the Hardy Boys or Encyclopedia Brown.

When he was little books offered an escape from the chaos of his life. Had offered him a grounding point in a world full of tension and false security. But captain Hook and the Hardy Boys couldn't help him now. Nobody could.

Tonight when he stood in the cold ME's office not knowing if his brother was laying still under that sheet something snapped. That tightly coiled band that had been threatening to break for months now finally did just that.

He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Both emotions seemed so close to the surface right now it was a toss up. Maybe he had finally lost it, he thought to himself. Hell, he could finally prove to all the people that had accused him of being nuttier then a fruit cake all these years that they were right. Wouldn't that just send Ross over the moon.

His mother entered his mind though. His poor mother that never asked to be abandoned by her husband, the father of her children. The mother that didn't ask to be given a crippling mental disease. The mother that had tried so hard to show some kind of semblance of order when he was growing up. The mother that now had a disease that was slowly killing her. The mother he loved. The mother that nobody who was not in his position could possibly understanding loving. Who would be left to care for her if he finally allowed himself to lose it, he wondered? Certainly not his brother who it had become very apparent in the last week was battling his own demons.

God, Frank. His brother. His big brother. The one he was supposed to look up to…..He had looked up to him, when they were younger. When they were kids he wanted to be just like him. He remembered following him around trying to hang out with him and his friends. Frank would always try and make time for him but eventually he wanted to do his own thing and eventually Bobby had found Lewis. Bobby realized now that Frank was trying to protect him from whatever it was he had become involved in but it didn't hurt any less.

It was during this time that Bobby had begun to notice what he called the bad stuff when he was a kid. Frank would come home drunk or often high and then he and their mother would argue. He would call her a nutcase and she would accuse him of being just like their father.

Frank eventually left. He would come home every few months with wild stories about new projects he was working on and for a little while their mother would have such high hopes. She would brag to all her friends about all the wonderful things Frankie was doing. Bobby would always see though it, he would always see through the stories and swaggering. As angry as she got at Frankie though she would always forgive him when he let her down. Always find that soft spot that mothers seem to find for there children and let him back in. That spot she had never found for him.

He had always been a disappointment. He knew a lot of it was the disease, masking her true feelings but it hurt just as bad. He was the good one! The one that had worked so hard to give his mother something to be proud of and the one she could find nothing but fault with. Maybe it was just fates way of being a bitch., he thought. Work your ass off….be treated like shit.

When he finally decided to join the Army he and his mother had an awful fight. She had accused him of being just like his father and abandoning her just like he and Frank had done. She had yelled, he had yelled….he still regretted that. He didn't think she had ever fully forgiven him for leaving her. He was her baby the last

one she had left. Didn't he deserve to have something though?

Why was it always left to him when somebody's life fell apart? Why didn't he get the nice little fairy tale life they showed in the movies and told in the books? He knew of course that love like that wasn't a reality but it would be nice to hope for at least. Of course these thought's just brought him back to the woman seated next to him driving. Eames. Alex.

It almost made him laugh when he thought the only constant in his life was the person paid to work with him. If she only knew the thoughts that went through his mind. It wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair to bring her into the hell that was his life.

The person that was paid to work with him was the most stabilizing force in his life. How would he explain that to a shrink, he thought? He had thought about going to one and only concluded that it would be a waste of time. He would end up out thinking the psychiatrist and end up pissing off another person.

He thought back to last week when his brother had asked if Alex was his wife. What he wouldn't have given to say yes, that incredible, gorgeous , smart talented lady is my wife. It was joke though. The idea of him and Eames together? No. It couldn't happen. If wishes were granted though.

He had loved her for so long now. Oh sure, at first it had been little more then physical attraction, no doubt. Now though, now he knew the smart, feisty, beautiful woman beneath the cop.

She was exactly everything he could ever want in a mate. Which was exactly why he couldn't have her.

What kind of man would he be if he dragged her into the darkness that was his world? It was bad enough her being as close as she was. Too close. He should never have allowed her to come to the ME's office with him. He had the worst feeling when Ross had told him though. For just a moment he had let the wall down and before he knew it they were both in the SUV on the way to the office. Now she had seen too much.

The pain in his heart was threatening to take him under. He was getting weaker and weaker for her and he couldn't allow that to happen. She still had so much life ahead of her and he couldn't taint her with his ugliness, the ugliness that stayed with him everyday.

He thought back over their years together and let out a small sigh. He felt her shift in her seat to look at him but he didn't turn this time. If he looked at her right now he would give in. He would give in and beg her to let him love her.

He thought about that letter that she had written all those years ago. God, she should have gotten out when she had the chance and then they wouldn't be in the position they were in today. He wouldn't have blamed her. He didn't blame her when she had to sit on the stand and repeat the words she had written down so long ago. He remembered her trying to apologize and he remembered just wanting to assuage her hurt. That was when it happened. That was when he knew. He knew both of them could have ended it right there but neither did. That was the moment things changed between them. They had somehow unconsciously crossed a line from partners to something…..something more. He thought back to words he had read recently, 'more then friends, less then romantic'. That was what described them he thought.

Then that psychotic bitch Jo had tried to steal her away. Looking back now, he realized how crazed he must have looked to the people around him. He had been terrified for her, for himself. When she had finally turned up it had been like a breath of fresh air to his lungs. He had known then just how deeply he had fallen in love with her. It was his weakest point and he had almost come close to telling her how he felt and damning the consequences. Then his mother had taken a turn for the worse. It had shot the theory of him and Eames together all to hell.

She was already dealing with her own problems stemming from the PTSD, she didn't need the added pressure of dealing with his as well. He had tried pushing her away. Tried keeping her at arm's length. Letting those doors close on her was the hardest thing he had ever done. He had really wanted to grab her and hold on for dear life but it just wasn't possible. He was putting his own career at risk he couldn't drag her down as well.

He had even tried sleeping with other women, for all the good it did. The last two times had been horrible experiences. Marie and Tanya.

Marie had been the first. That experience had him closing his eyes and imagining that it was Alex beneath him. Tanya had been even worse in that he had actually called out Alex's name while in bed. That had resulted in him getting thrown out of bed and screamed at, "if you want to fuck Alex so bad then go fuck Alex". He had decided then and there that sex was off limits for awhile.

Love just wasn't in the cards for him. The one he loved the most he had to protect from himself. He felt so alone though. Too many thoughts and no one to share them with.

Suddenly he felt the car shifting and turning. He looked around and realized that they weren't at his home or even hers for that matter. Eames pulled off and was parking the SUV outside of a old playground that had defiantly seen better years. Every fiber in his body told Bobby this wasn't going to be good.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

-1Bobby took in his surrounding's before finally turning to Alex.

She seemed so utterly defeated looking to him. Her hands gripped the steering wheel and she stared straight ahead.

"Eames", he questioned quietly. His hand tentatively moved out to touch her arm until the thoughts he had been having just a few moments ago invaded his conscious. He dropped his hands to his lap and waited.

"I can't do this anymore", she finally said after a few moments of quite had passed between them.

Bobby lowered his head and scrubbed his eyes. He knew this day would come eventually. After the meeting at the ME's office he should have figured it would be sooner rather then later. He had just hoped to hold onto her a little longer.

"I understand", he answered back barely whispering.

"Do you? Do you understand", Alex asked finally releasing the wheel and turning her body fully towards him.

"I don't blame you, okay", Bobby replied. "I can't believe it's lasted this long honestly".

Alex looked at him with shock on her face. He thought she wanted out, she realized. She was pretty sure things couldn't get much more fucked up.

Of course he would think she wanted out. That's what everybody did to him. Things got hard and they left.

"I'm not leaving Bobby", she said quietly. He turned to look at her.

This wasn't right, he thought. It was time for her to go. She had done her time with him. Besides she deserved better then this. She had stuck by him for nearly 7 years now. He had to let her go for her own sake, for her career for her sanity.

"For God's sake Bobby stop!", she finally exploded hitting the steering wheel and stunning him. "I'm not a perp, stop trying to figure me out".

Alex suddenly felt the need to be very far away from him. Opening the door she got out of the car only hearing "I wasn't", before the door slammed in his face.

Alex stood against the side of the car and tried to clear her thoughts as she heard Bobby get out as well.

"I wasn't trying to figure you out" Bobby said more then a little angry as he made his way to the drivers side of the car. This was the last thing he needed right now a fight with her.

"Bullshit", she said.

"It's not bullshit", he tried explaining.

"7 years Bobby, almost 7 years. I know you. You were either trying to figure out why I'm still here or how the hell you could get me to leave, pick one", she snaked angrily.

He had no idea how she could read him so well. It almost unnerved him at times but right now it just pissed him off. "Fine! You know what….I don't need this. I'll walk home", he yelled back turning away from her.

"Yeah, that's it, run away", Alex fired back.

"What the hell do you want form me?", he finally roared.

"I want you to stop running away from me! I want you to stop pretending like everything is peachy keen even when it's not! Do you honestly think this is any easier on me then it's been on you?", Alex fought back.

He had tried to keep her out of it and only succeeded in dragging her deeper he thought to himself. "You don't understand", Bobby started a bit calmer now. It wasn't her fault all the anger that he had inside him and he couldn't take it out on her.

"Your right. I don't understand. You won't let me. It's like you think your some kind of super hero who can handle all of this on his own but you can't. You human Bobby", Alex said reaching out to touch him only to have him pull back every so slightly that only a trained eye would notice. It felt like a little knife to her heart. Why did this have to be so frustrating, she thought.

"It's all falling apart and I can't stop it. I can't stop any of it", Bobby said quietly.

He was doing his damndest not to let it touch her and it was anyway, he thought.

"Bobby you can't keep bottling it all up inside of you", Alex tried. Her heart was breaking seeing him so broken and defeated. She wanted the strong, determined, never back down from a fight man that she had fallen for back.

"Look, if you don't feel comfortable talking to me, then somebody else. What about Lewis?", she asked. "When was the last time you talked to Lewis?" Lewis was his oldest friend. If Bobby could talk to anybody surely it would be him.

Bobby marveled at how much she knew about his life. He hadn't realized how deeply he had pulled her into his life. "Lewis has his own problems. Besides I don't want anybody bothered by what's going on", he realized the ridiculousness of that reasoning when he saw the look on Alex's face. The truth was she was the only one he wanted to talk to and the main person he couldn't. If she knew his true feelings…..the anger he felt……..she wouldn't understand.

"Bobby", Alex started.

"Look there's nothing to talk about okay? My mother's dying, my brother is homeless, my boss hates me and, and", he realized he had almost given himself away and admitted his feelings for her, "I can't do anything about any of it. So what's the point of talking about it ",Bobby explained. They were treading down dangerous territory. Thai had to end here and now.

"That's a lot to deal with. If you would just let me help you", Alex tried again.

"I don't want your help!", Bobby finally yelled frustrated. He could see Alex flinch and immediately felt sorry for yelling at her like that. It wasn't her fault.

"Don't you ever yell at me like that again, do you understand me? I know your hurting and your in pain but that does not give you the excuse to treat me like one of those bimbo's that you bring home. I won't be treated that way for any reason", Alex stated defiantly.

Even through his shame Bobby wanted to smile at the steal that ran through this little woman's veins. She refused to let anyone push her around.

"I'm sorry", he said contritely. "And just for the record there haven't been any bimbo's for a little while now", Bobby said, finally sitting on a old bench nearby.

Alex sighed and sat down next to him but not touching him. She didn't understand why he had such a problem touching her when he so freely held victims or touched old friends.

How could she be in love with a man who had never so much as held her hand except when they worked undercover, she wondered?

They were at an impasse, he not wanting to give an inch and her pushing with all her might and not getting anywhere.

But she hadn't pushed with all her might had she? She had poked and prodded but she hadn't given that last shove that might send them over the edge.

It had been to long like this, she knew that now. They had danced around each for years and never actually asked the other one to dance with them. With all the turmoil that had happened in both of their lives in the last year both were afraid to take the plunge. Bobby more so, he had more to lose.

She thought about him saying that he hadn't been with anyone recently ….was he trying to tell her that was because of her?

"Bobby", Alex began again, she had to know if that was the reason.

"Look it's late, were both exhausted. We've both had a long day and this conversation isn't getting us anywhere. Let's just go home and start fresh in the morning", Bobby stated. He could have a better handle on this in the morning. He would have more fight in him. This whole evening was wearing on him and he didn't think he could take anymore.

Bobby stood and headed toward the SUV and waited for Alex to follow him. When he didn't hear her behind him and turned and saw that she was still sitting on the bench.

"Eames?", he questioned. He should have known better then to think she would give up that easily. When she felt something she was as dogged about it as he was. That's what made them such good partners.

Alex swallowed against the lump that had formed in her throat. She could feel her whole body shaking and her stomach was doing flips. It didn't matter who he had been with or who he hadn't been with anymore. It was now or never, she thought.

"I love you", she said very quietly. There she had said it and she couldn't take it back now.

"Eames", Bobby began. Oh God, please don't, he thought. Don't do this to me! I fought so hard.

"I can't pinpoint exactly when or where or why, I just know. I love you", she said a bit stronger this time. Alex saw him start to say something and put her hand up to stop him. "I know you love me too. I know that's why you think you have to keep me away from all the bad stuff that's happening to you right now. But don't you see? It's not working Bobby. I'm still a part of it, your just making me watch all of it from the outside", Alex explained. He had to understand that him making her watch as an outsider was breaking her heart.

Bobby didn't know what to say. His head was pinning. This couldn't be happening.

"Bobby, please….I know your scared. I'm scared too", Alex said slowly approaching him using an even tone to her voice that you would use on somebody who was about to jump off a building.

"I'd rather be scared with you though. We can get over our fears together ", Alex tried, now standing in front of him but not touching him.

Bobby still wasn't sure what to say. For so long he had tried to keep it from coming to this. But here she was offering herself up. Offering to be 'his'…..No! It couldn't work like this. It couldn't be so simple. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve her. He would destroy her just like he was destroying himself.

"Bobby stop trying to think this to death. It isn't a puzzle or a case you have to solve…it just, it just is", Alex whispered, finally reaching up and touching his face. This time he didn't pull away though which gave her hope.

She ran her fingers along the stubble on his cheek tenderly. She had no idea how it would feel to touch him so innocently. They had denied themselves this for so long it was like trying to walk a maze full of land mines. She could see the tears threatening to spill out of his eyes and wanted to cry herself. She imagined that he hadn't been touched this innocently in a very long time. At work he was always treated rough by perps, and she could only assume the usual women that she had known about over the years weren't that interested in breaking through the walls he had up to touch him so gently.

It had been so long since he felt like this he honestly couldn't find a memory that was close. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe in her touch, tried to memorize the feeling of her hand against his skin.

He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't allow her to do this to herself.

"Bobby? Honey what are you thinking", she asked so sweetly it hurt him inside. That term of endearment nearly undid him.

"I can't", was all he could manage to say.

"Can't what? Can't love me? Can't let me love you? Can't tell me how badly your heart is hurting? Can't let yourself possibly feel something good for a change", she asked trying to break through and feeling so close.

"I just can't. I can't do any of that. Don't you understand? Can't you see? I'm doing this for you", Bobby said hoping she understood. He couldn't let the darkness touch her anymore then it already had.

"All I see, is you denying us both what we want. I am not some little china doll that you have to protect. I'm a big girl and I can handle some bumps in the road", Alex said trying to reason with him.

"They are not bumps. The are huge gapping pot holes. You couldn't……shouldn't have to understand. You deserve better", he said gently taking her hand from his face and letting it drop.

"Better?", Alex said a bit angrily. "I'm trying to pour my heart out to you and that's the best you can come up with? I deserve better? That's bullshit and you know it", Alex said.

"It's not! Alex you deserve a happy life, with kids and a house. You deserve a beautiful life and you deserve to have it with somebody who doesn't feel like crawling out of his own skin sometimes", he tried to explain.

"Well to bad! Because I have suddenly realized that I don't want any of those things if I can't have them with you. It's taken me 6 and a half years to realize it but I have now and I'm not going to just forget it because your scared.", Alex stated defiantly.

"Bobby, when I lost Joe I swore to myself that I would never put myself in that position again. I would never be vulnerable to anyone. I know that I was wrong now. When I was hanging in that warehouse", Alex said suddenly shutting her eyes and swallowing the lump in her throat, "I had two thoughts in my mind. I couldn't die there. I had to fight, and I had to get back to you. Bobby I don't want to look back and wonder what if? I don't want to wonder what could have been. We have a chance here. We have a chance to make each other happy, Alex said reaching for his hands and not allowing him to pull away when he tried. "We are half way there already. All we have to do now is take the last step. She could see the turmoil in his eyes and knew she was getting to him, she could feel it.

"Tell me you don't love me", Alex said. She knew he couldn't lie to her. Not about something so serious. "Go on, tell me, if you can tell me that I promise I will stop this now and never bring it up again".

Alex felt the tension between them and held her breath as she waited for him to say something, anything.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't deny he loved her. It had come to far for that. He heard everything she was saying, and a part of him that small part of him that he never revealed to anybody , that he kept hidden and held the smallest bit of hope wanted to believe. He wanted to believe that things could be different with her. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't run, that she would understand. If he lost her though…..that would be the end of him though.

"Bobby answer me", she demanded bring him out of his thoughts. "Do you love me?"

"Yes", he answered so low that he almost wasn't sure himself if he had actually said it aloud. He heard the huge breath that she had let out and realized how nervous she had been about his answer. He felt horrible for making her second guess herself and making her wonder if her feelings were in fact reciprocated.

He felt her arms slide around him to embrace him and God help him, he embraced her back. It felt so good to hold her. For so long he had wondered what it would be like to have her in his arms and the reality was so much better.

"It's okay", he heard her whisper. He hadn't understood why until he felt the tears running down his own face and dropping on her shoulder.

"Listen to me, we can make this work. We can. We just have to trust each other. We have to believe were stronger then all the bad stuff that can happen", she told him.

"I don't know if I can. There was a time when I thought I could. But I honestly don't know if I can believe that anymore", Bobby admitted. So much had happened. His life almost didn't even feel like his own anymore.

"I know", Alex said pulling away slightly but not wanting to loose contact with him. "Look, if anybody can face a challenge it's us, right?", Alex said giving him a warm smile.

"I don't want to disappoint you", Bobby admitted.

"The only thing that could disappoint me is if you give up", Alex told him.

"You know earlier in the car", he said wondering if maybe he was about to reveal to much information then deciding she deserved to know exactly what she getting into, "I was wondering what would happen if I just let myself go".

He felt Alex tense and this time it was he who held her closer. "Relax. I know I can't do that. Besides it would probably work for al of 5 minutes before I would get bored", he said with a smile. It was the first smile she had seen on his face in a very long time. "The point is, maybe we can make this work but…", he said not finding the right words to finish his sentence.

"We can make this work", Alex stated.

"If nothing else, it'll really piss off Ross", Bobby said with a big grin.

"What makes you say that?", Alex asked.

"Oh come on! The guy has been after you since day 1", Bobby teased lightly. It was true though.

"Is that what the pissing contest you two have had going been about? Me?", Alex asked laughing. Alex laughed even harder when Bobby just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Well the better man won okay?", she said leaning up to kiss him without thinking. This time it was Alex's turn to tense not knowing if she had crossed a line Bobby wasn't ready to go through yet. It only lasted a moment as she slowly felt herself melt against him when he brought his large hands to the side of her face.

This was a moment that Bobby had dreamed about for so long now that he wasn't even sure it was reality. Here she was the object of his affection, his adoration in his arms her lips pressed against his. He felt her mouth slightly open and she pressed against him even more closely and he willingly let his tongue invade her mouth.

Soon both were moaning and hands were reaching. He had somehow managed to back her against the SUV and she suddenly understood the expression, trapped between a rock and a hard place. She felt tingles shoot through her body as he began to kiss his way along her jaw onto her neck.

Phones ringing soon brought soon brought them out of the moment and groaning they tore apart. Both reached for the phones held in their jacket pockets.

"Goren"

"Eames", both said respectively. "Alright, we'll be right there", Alex said her face falling a bit knowing they would have to continue things later.

"Yeah? Okay. Tell them not to touch anything till we get there", Bobby finished, snapping his phone shut. "Sorry", he said apologetically.

"It's okay. We'll just continue where we left off later", she said giving him a small kiss. "And don't think your off the hook buster. We still need to talk", Alex said knowing he would think that he had avoided things.

Bobby smiled, he knew most people thought she had to keep up with him. The truth was he wasn't sure if he would be able to keep up with her, he thought as they climbed into the SUV and headed off to the crime scene.

TBC


End file.
